Southern Utah Real Estate Market. What happened in March

Sorry I am a little late on this one, I was out of town last week and it kind of put me back a couple of days. Anyway, as always, I want to thank the following for making my March a nice month.

1. TA Quan Holdings (2) transactions {Sold Listings}
2. John and Peggy Andersen (Help from Spencer their son) {Sold Listings}
3. Nina and Ellis Rogers (Purchase)
4. Bill and Caryl Mantey (Purchase)

TA Quan, asked me to help them get some lots sold, which we were able to do; John and Peggy Andersen are currently serving a full-time LDS mission in Sofia, Bulgaria, so we want to thank Spencer, their son, for all he did to make this possible; Nina and Ellis, are purchasing a second home this month for family to live in; and Bill and Caryl got a smoking deal on a place out in Ivins.

I am starting to feel the nudge, I have been very busy since I have come back from my trip and we are currently working with several buyers and sellers right now. All of you that have been sitting on the fence, it is time to jump off. Interest rates are good, prices are low, and we really are starting to see some movement, so if you are waiting, it is time to get into the action. Believe me, this is the first time I have felt comfortable saying this for about two years.

There are some great tax incentives for first time home buyers and for those that are buying new construction that has never been lived in. If you have any questions send me an email and I can get you in touch with the right people.

So this is how it went in March, it went a bit better.

Total Market Activity on Homes in March

Active Listings: 1,773 (Feb 1,585)
New Listings: 334 (Feb 369)
Sold Listings: 154 (Feb 133)
Months of Inventory: 11.51 (11.92)

Homes priced up to $150,000
Active Listings: 232 (Feb 206)
New Listings: 62 (Feb 65)
Sold Listings: 32 (Feb 31)
Months of Inventory: 7.25 (6.65)

Homes priced from $150,001 to $200,000
Active Listings: 315 (Feb 281)
New Listings: 70 (Feb 64)
Sold Listings: 40 (Feb 40)
Months of Inventory: 7.88 (Feb 7.03)

Homes priced from $200,001 to $250,000
Active Listings: 281 (Feb 252)
New Listings: 46 (Feb 58)
Sold Listings: 23 (Feb 26)
Months of Inventory: 12.22 (Feb 9.69)

Homes priced from $250,001 to $300,000
Active Listings: 249 (Feb 223)
New Listings: 37 (Feb 43)
Sold Listings: 19 (Feb 12)
Months of Inventory: 13.11 (Feb 18.58)

Homes priced from $300,001 to $350,000
Active Listings: 159 (Feb 159)
New Listings: 26 (Feb 29)
Sold Listings: 14 (Feb 12)
Months of Inventory: 11.36 (Feb 13.25)

Homes priced from $350,001 to $400,000
Active Listings: 110 (Feb 91)
New Listings: 21 (Feb 25)
Sold Listings: 8 (Feb 4)
Months of Inventory: 13.75 (Feb 22.75)

Homes priced from $400,001 to $450,000
Active Listings: 62 (Feb 53 )
New Listings: 13 (Feb 18)
Sold Listings: 2 (Feb 1)
Months of Inventory: 31.00 (Feb 53.00)

Homes priced from $450,001 to $500,000
Active Listings: 61 (Feb 54)
New Listings: 17 (Feb 13)
old Listings: 5 (Feb 0)
Months of Inventory: 12.00 (No Sales in Feb)

Homes priced from $500,001 to $550,000
Active Listings: 42 (Feb 34)
New Listings: 8 (Feb 8)
Sold Listings: 2 (Feb 1)
Months of Inventory: 21.00 (Feb 34.00)

Homes priced from $550,001 to $600,000
Active Listings: 52 (Feb 47)
New Listings: 12 (Feb 10)
Sold Listings: 3 (Feb 0)
Months of Inventory: 17.33 (No Sales in Feb)

Homes priced from $600,001 to $650,000
Active Listings: 22 (Feb 21)
New Listings: 0 (Feb 6)
Sold Listings: 2 (Feb 1)
Months of Inventory: 11.00 (Feb 21.00)

Homes priced from $650,001 to $700,000
Active Listings: 25 (Feb 21)
New Listings: 5 (Feb 5)
Sold Listings: 0 (Feb 1)
Months of Inventory: No Sales in March (21.00)

Homes priced from $700,001 to $750,000
Active Listings: 17 (Feb 16)
New Listings: 3 (Feb 3)
Sold Listings: 0 (Feb 0)
Months of Inventory: No Sales in Feb (No Sales in March)

Homes priced from $750,001 to $1,000,000
Active Listings: 65 (Feb 59)
New Listings: 8 (Feb 13)
Sold Listings: 1 (Feb 1)
Months of Inventory: 65.00 (Feb 59.00)

Homes priced from $1,000,001 and Up
Active Listings: 84 (Feb 77)
New Listings: 6 (Feb 9)
Sold Listings: 3 (Feb 3)
Months of Inventory: 28.00 (Feb 25.67)

The following information is for building lots in the same general area as the housing data listed above. All Building Lots in the Greater St. George and Hurricane Valley

Active Listings: 1,264 (Feb 1,085)
New Listings: 108 (Feb 182)
Sold Listings: 8 (Feb 16)
Months of Inventory: 158.00 (Feb 67.81)

Here are the data ranges:

Building lots up to $100,000
Active Listings: 548 (Feb 463)
New Listings: 58 (Feb 97)
Sold Listings: 6 (Feb 12)
Months of Inventory: 91.33 (Feb 38.58)

Building lots from $100,001 to $150,000
Active Listings: 317 (Feb 248)
New Listings: 28 (Feb 50)
Sold Listings: 0 (Feb 2)
Months of Inventory: No Sales in March (Feb 124.00)

Building lots from $150,001 to $200,000
Active Listings: 146 (Feb 136)
New Listings: 12 (Feb 4)
Sold Listings: 0 (Feb 0)
Months of Inventory: No sales in March (No Sales in Feb)

Building lots from $200,001 and up
Active Listings: 253 (Feb 238)
New Listings: 10 (Feb 31)
Sold Listings: 2 (Feb 2)
Months of Inventory: 126.00 (Feb 119.00)

Short sales:
The banks are starting to be fairly decent with these again. They were a bit tight there for a month or two, my guess is thinking that our new commander in chief might have had a way to fix them up, but now that they are seeing that the trillions of dollars is not trickling down to them, they are starting to be reasonable. Though these are by far the most painful of all transactions in terms of the waiting game, my opinion is the ones that work end up in the best deals. So if you have the stomach for it, some of them are big winners.

Foreclosures:
Some good deals out there. A lot of these are just priced low enough for you to put in your sweat equity and money to bring them up to market standard. There are however a few that really are worth it, and can be bought for a significant discount, but I would say that is probably only about 15-25% of them. The banks have been pretty good about getting back, but expect a few days and maybe even a week’s wait, then their addendum that is much larger than the original contract you signed. All in all, not too bad, if you chase down the right one.

If you want access to real, ready to buy foreclosures, go to www.southernutahforeclosure.com and sign up. I will get them headed your way.

For any other questions, or just to send me a referral, please send me an email.